IBT Staff Reporter

Britain's leading share index had edged higher by midday on Wednesday, led by hotel groups after Blackstone agreed to buy Hilton, but overall activity was thin as U.S. markets are closed for a holiday and investors await an interest rate decision on Thursday.

The cars could arrive within 30 months, as ambitious Chinese rivals race to penetrate the world's big auto markets.

Progress made by Britain's Barclays in its offer for ABN AMRO demonstrates its ability to offer the Dutch bank's shareholders certainty and deliverability, Chief Executive John Varley said on Wednesday.

Makers of some of Europe's most famous wines tried to cork an EU plan to drastically cut production, saying on Wednesday it would jeopardise centuries of tradition.

U.S. private equity firm Apollo Management unveiled a $6 billion bid proposal for Huntsman Corp on Wednesday, 8 percent higher than a deal accepted by the U.S. chemical company last week.

KKR & Co. LP, the prominent U.S. buyout firm that pioneered the leveraged buyout industry, filed with regulators on Tuesday to raise up to $1.25 billion in an initial public offering.

European share indexes ticked higher early on Wednesday, helped by the hotel sector, but investors were awaiting fresh direction ahead of two rate decisions later in the week and with U.S. markets closed for the Independence Day holiday.

Toyota Motor Corp. rattled Detroit-based automakers in June with generous discounts on its new Tundra pickup truck, but said on Tuesday it had no plans to compete on price in other areas of a weakening U.S. vehicle market.

Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) new iPhone could deliver a 55 percent return for every phone sold according to new findings conducted by market research firm, iSuppli.

Google Inc. has acquired GrandCentral Communications, a start-up that lets users manage their existing phones and voice mailboxes over the Web as if they were a single account, the company said on Monday.

Stocks gained in a holiday-shortened session on Tuesday, lifted by fresh takeover talk and after a report suggesting Apple Inc. will generate fat profit margins on its iPhone.

Despite more aggressive discounts, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group on Tuesday reported lower U.S. sales for June, underscoring the drag on the U.S. auto industry from high gas prices, fierce competition and a weak housing market.

Police were holding eight people on Tuesday, at least four of them foreign doctors, over a suspected al Qaeda plot against Britain that has triggered a manhunt stretching as far as Australia.

Iraq's cabinet approved changes to a draft hydrocarbon law on Tuesday and sent it to parliament for immediate debate, taking a big step towards meeting a key political target set by the United States.

Alcan said the company had no reason for any further discussion with Alcoa 'at this time.'

The United States does not oppose releasing some of the 50,000 metric tons of heavy fuel oil due to North Korea under a nuclear disarmament deal before its Yongbyon reactor shuts down, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.

The most expensive iPhone model could deliver profit margins of more than 55 percent for Apple Inc., according to iSuppli, which examined the components of the widely anticipated device.

French food group Danone is in exclusive talks to sell its biscuit and cereal snack unit for 5.3 billion euros ($7.2 billion) in cash to Kraft Foods Inc., the world's biggest cookie maker, they said on Tuesday.

Gold inched up on Tuesday after climbing more than 1 percent the previous day on a weaker dollar and security concerns, while Tokyo futures tracked dollar-based gold's rise to end up about 1 percent.

Oil was steady above $72 on Tuesday after hitting a 10-month high the previous session, and analysts predicted increasing crude oil demand from U.S. refiners and technical factors would soon push prices higher.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and its partners seeking to buy Dutch rival ABN AMRO for 71 billion euros ($96.6 billion) do not know many of the key facts relating to their target, documents showed on Tuesday.

Heart risks associated with Merck & Co.'s painkiller Vioxx began much sooner than the company has claimed, The Wall Street Journal Online reported on Tuesday, citing a new study.

The dollar steadied on Tuesday after two sessions of steep falls, hovering just above a record low against the euro, as investors eyed central bank meetings this week in Europe which could keep overseas yields climbing.

Fast food chain Jack in the Box Inc. on Monday said a U.S. court denied rival CKE Restaurants Inc.'s motion for a preliminary injunction that would have forced Jack in the Box to stop airing a TV ad mocking CKE's Angus hamburgers.

'Nanking,' a U.S.-made film documenting eyewitness accounts of atrocities committed by Japanese troops in China during World War Two, opened in Beijing on Tuesday, as the two countries struggle to mend strained ties.

AT&T Inc said on Monday delays in activating service for customers of Apple Inc iPhone had been mostly resolved after the wireless company worked out the problems on a case-by-case basis.

NetSuite Inc., billionaire Larry Ellison's software company that sells computer programs accessed over the Web, filed on Monday to raise up to $75 million in an initial public offering.

Software maker SAP AG admitted a subsidiary had carried out inappropriate downloads of documents belonging to archrival Oracle Corp but said on Tuesday SAP itself had not had access to that material.

U.S. buyout firm Cerberus Capital Management won approval from the European Commission on Tuesday to buy U.S. carmaker Chrysler from DaimlerChrysler.